Showers and Storms continue across the East; Heat, Critical Fire Weather, Drought, and Poor Air Quality continues in the West

A series of fronts will focus locally heavy showers and storms across portions of the central and eastern U.S. through the end of the workweek. Dangerous to extreme heat continues across the Southwest U.S., eventually spreading eastward over the weekend into early next week. Elevated fire weather conditions continue across the Great Basin, with degraded air quality lingering across the Northwest. Read More >

Summary

A series of supercell thunderstorms swept across the Mid-South and Southeast states on February 5-6, 2008. The storms produced multiple tornadoes across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, causing at least 50 fatalities and many more injuries (additional information on the weather pattern that produced these storms).

Storm surveys were completed on two significant tornadoes that occurred within the NWS Huntsville area of responsibility (all times specified are based on radar estimates):

Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 3:00 AM to 3:20 AM)
Jackson County, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 5:17 AM to 5:34 AM)

Two additional weaker tornadoes were found to have occurred:

Marshall County, Alabama: EF-1 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:45 AM)
Cullman County, Alabama: EF-0 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:00 AM)

Tornado Tracks

The two tornado paths are marked on the map of the Huntsville county warning and forecast area (CWFA) below. Click on the affected county for more information about the tornado, including damage pictures, estimated wind speeds, and EF scale ratings.